The Mulberry Bush
by darkotter
Summary: Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel...It echoes in his head and it won't go away. Its not just a dream. Its really there. And no one else can hear it. oneshot drabble


A/N: I needed a small break from Assassin, but I'm not giving it up, don't you all worry. But here's a little oneshot drabble thing, based on Pop Goes the Weasel, because I started singing that song after school and it was haunting me, so I had to put it into a story. So, here you go. Lyrics, of course, aren't mine. Everyone knows that song. So, read and review, please.

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"Stop it! STOP IT!_ STOP IT!_" the boy pressed his hands over his ears hard, trying to cut out the song. It bore into his head. That cursed childish, horrible song. It cut deep into his heart as well.

"Allen! What's wrong?" he could hear a panicked voice, but it was far away, dim.

He closed his eyes tightly, pressing his hands harder. "No! Stop tormenting me! I didn't _do_ anything!" he cried.

…_round and round the mulberry bush_…

"Allen!" the voice was farther away. He wanted to go towards them. He could barely hear the voices as they murmured above them…or they could have been shouting. All he heard was that song.

…_the monkey chased the weasel…_

He curled up. But the voice kept singing. It was a lovely voice, comforting at a different time, but now it was haunting. And it had been going around his head for days. At first it was quiet, like a song that was stuck in your head, but now it was loud and clear.

"No! Stop it, please!" he pleaded. He felt hands and they tried to pull his own hands away from his ears. He kept them there.

"Allen, let me help!" the voice was scared, worried, loving…the hands weren't strong enough to do anything. "We can help you…but you have to get _up_!"

"I can't…can't take much more. Please make it stop!" he moaned.

"Allen!" a deeper voice said. Stronger hands came down, pulling him up. He kept his hands covering his ears tightly, his feet not touching the ground. "Come back to us!"

…_The monkey thought 'twas all in good fun…_

He shook his head. "Please! Leave me be!" He didn't want the song. And why did it have to be _that_ song? The voice was so lovely, so full of hate. He knew that voice from a long time ago…

…_Pop! Goes the weasel…_

Where had he heard it? It was when he was very young. And now it came back and he couldn't make it go away!

His mother. That cursed woman who had left him in that alley when he was five. She had sung that song when he was still with her.

…_A penny for a spool of thread_…

"Make it stop!" he pleaded, holding onto whoever was holding him, holding their arms. His head ached. It pounded. So did his heart. "Please…just make it stop!"

"We can't do anything Allen! Until you tell us what's going on!" the voice commanded.

He couldn't take much more of this. Soon he was going to snap.

…_A penny for a needle…_

"Help me…please…Mana! Please make it stop!" he said, sobbing. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Someone shook him.

…_That's the way the money goes…_

"Allen, what's wrong?" the more steady, deeper voice asked.

…_Pop! Goes the weasel…_

"The song…" he choked out. "…don't you hear it?"

"Allen, I don't hear any song. Open your eyes. Look at me!" the voice commanded. He opened his eyes slowly. But his vision was blurred. His head hurt so much, it felt like it would explode. Explode or break or crack in two. He saw orange in front of him.

"Allen, come on, focus on me," the figure said. He could feel a hand on his face, forcing him to look at the person. Who was that? He knew who it was.

…_Round and round the mulberry bush_…

"NO!" he cried. It had started over.

"Allen!"

Something broke. Something cracked in two.

"Round and round the mulberry bush…" he murmured.

"What?" the person asked, surprised. He gave a small moan.

"Make it stop…" he moaned. The song continued in his head. Why couldn't it stop? The voice of his mother continued.

…_The monkey chased the weasel…_

"It's a song," he heard one of the voices say. "He's singing a song…"

"Allen, come back to us," the other said, the steady voice. How he wanted to follow, but he could barely see. All that he could make out was shapes and colors.

"The monkey chased the weasel…" he murmured. He wanted it to stop! He hit the figure before him. "No! Make it stop!"

They fell backwards with a shout. "Allen!" screamed the worried voice.

"Its ok…he didn't hurt me," the calm, but now slightly strained one said.

…_The monkey thought 'twas all in good fun…_

"Make—it—stop!" he pleaded, sliding to the floor. He gripped the calm one on their arm.

…_Pop! Goes the weasel…_

…_A penny for a spool of thread…_

…_A penny for a needle—_

…_That's the way the money goes…_

…_Pop! Goes the weasel…_

Allen collapsed onto the floor, losing consciousness. Lavi, holding his own cheek in one hand, stared at him for a moment. Lenalee hurried over to them both and knelt.

"He's passed out…" she murmured. "Can we do anything?"

"I don't know. We need to stop that song, whatever he's hearing," Lavi said, pulling his hand away from his now bruised cheek. "He started singing it too…"

Lenalee nodded. "Did it just start today?"

"He started acting distracted this morning…and then…I found him around when the sun set," Lavi said. "But…he mentioned something about having a song stuck in his head! He had been saying, jokingly, that he wished he didn't want it in his head anymore."

"Could it be…an Akuma?" Lenalee pondered.

"_Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel…_" the sound came drifting in through the window. Both looked up, then Lavi stood.

"Stay with Allen!" he ordered and looked out of the window. A slender woman stood on the corner, leaning against the wall, fingers twisted in thread, making something. She continued singing.

"…_The monkey thought 'twas all good fun, Pop! Goes the weasel_." Her voice drifted across the street. Passers by stared.

"Who wants to bet that that's an Akuma," Lavi asked as Lenalee came over to the window.

Lenalee nodded.

"I'll get her," he said and left the house.

"_Oh, so glad that you could join me! Would you like to sing with me?"_ the woman asked, letting the string fall from her fingers.

"I'd rather just get past that," Lavi said.

She clucked. _"Your no fun at all…awe well. A penny for a spool of thread, a penny for a needle…_"

"Enough. I usually like songs, but this one's hurting my friend, so I'm going to have to kill you, get you out of the way," Lavi said, pulling his hammer from his leg.

"…_That's the way the money goes, Pop! Goes the weasel!"_ she continued.

The hammer flew through the air, turning on end and then landing back into Lavi's hand. It was larger. The woman frowned, then shed her skin.

"_No fun at all!_" she hissed, showing her hideous Akuma's form. She jumped forward, but Lavi had already slammed it onto the ground, a pillar of flames appearing. It swallowed her as she screamed.

"…_Round and…round…the mulberry bush…the monkey…chased…the weasel…"_ her voice continued singing, humming slightly in the air and then disappearing as she died.

"There," Lavi said, coming back into the house. Allen was stirring from where he lay on the ground. He pushed himself up, holding his head.

"No…no more song," he murmured, then looked up at Lenalee and Lavi. "Thank you…thank you."

Lenalee smiled and hugged him. Lavi just grinned. "No problem. Wouldn't want you going all crazy on us, would we?"

Allen smiled back.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review! Hope you liked it and I hope i got that song stuck in your head. I have it stuck in mine. I freaked myself out. xD With the song. I even have the notes, so I can play it on the flute...Anyways. [I don't own dgm. Hope to see your reviews soon, as well as ch. 15 of Assassin. 


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